Sportel Awards, the international cultural event celebrating
the best of sport and champions, is today unveiling the 2024 Lifetime Sport Achievement
Award.
Nikola Karabatic, who has just completed his sixth Olympic Games after Athens (2004), Beijing
(2008), London (2012), Rio (2016), and Tokyo (2021), will be honoured in Monte-Carlo on
Monday 28 October 2024 during the SPORTEL Awards ceremony taking place at the Grimaldi
Forum.
Best handball player in history, the left-back, who has won 61 club titles, including three in the
Champions League, 22 in the national championship (including 16 in France and 9 with Paris
Saint-Germain) in 23 professional seasons, who is now 40, has recently retired after competing
at the Paris Olympics.
Born in Serbia on April 11, 1984, Nikola Karaba6c quickly demonstrated a natural talent for his
passion, handball. He joined the Montpellier training centre in 2001, played his first match for
the professional team at the age of 17, and won the 1st Champions League for a French club in
2003. After four seasons in Germany with THW Kiel, where he dominated the Bundesliga
thanks to his exceptional performances (a total of 306 goals in 49 games in his first year), he
moved back to France in 2009. His talent and popularity continued to increase, and he soon
became a firm favourite with the fans. After two seasons in Catalonia with FC Barcelona,
Karaba6c signed with Paris Saint-Germain in 2015.
This wonder boy, blessed with incredible technical skills and a rare vision of the game, is the
most successful player in world handball history, with 11 6tles in the French national team:
three-time Olympic Champion, one silver medal, four-time World Champion, four-time
European Champion and a total of 17 international medals.
Three-time named Best Player of the World by the International Handball Federa6on and
2011 Champion of Champions by L'Équipe newspaper, the French international with 364 caps
and 1,303 goals will be receiving the Life6me Sport Achievement Award during the SPORTEL
Awards ceremony.
‘We are very proud to host Nikola Karaba<c in Monaco, who has been proving for over 20 years
his exceptional talent on the world stage. This charismatic player has left an indelible mark on
the biggest clubs in the world where he has performed. His physical strength, technical ability
and tactical intelligence have all made him a complete and versatile player. We're going to
honour this special champion, and the SPORTEL Awards Lifetime Sport Achievement Award will
be a wonderful tribute to his remarkable career,’ said Marine Picoulet, Head of the SPORTEL
Awards.
ALer Didier Deschamps in 2018, Alain Prost in 2019, and Katarina Wie in 2023, Nikola
Karaba6c unanimously recognised as the G.O.A.T. of Handball, will be honoured in Monaco for
his immense talent and exceptional career.
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